


I tried to be subtle

by VeronicaFerCard



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Royalty, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-06
Updated: 2013-07-06
Packaged: 2017-12-17 22:15:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/872546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeronicaFerCard/pseuds/VeronicaFerCard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern day royalty in which Arthur is the king of Wales, Merlin is his PA, magic is not seen with good eyes, Gwaine can’t keep it in his pants and Morgana has a rock band.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I tried to be subtle

Merlin tried to take as long as he could to get to where he had to go. He had no desire of doing this; he would probably do anything if it meant he could avoid facing Arthur right now. He knew exactly what the king’s reaction would be, and he was most definitely not looking forward to it.

Eventually he reached the door to Arthur’s private office. He took a deep breath before nocking.

“Who?” Merlin heard Arthur’s voice through the door. He sounded tired. As he should be since he had just come back from a trip to China.

“Merlin,” he answered.

“Come in.”

Merlin entered the room.

“This must be very important to have you knocking the door.” Arthur looked up from the paper he was reading. “What is it? Something’s on fire?” He said with a grin. Even tired Arthur still maintained his sense of humor when he was around Merlin, even if it was mostly to tease him, Merlin felt glad, it meant that what they had was more than just a work relationship. They were friends.

And that was one of the reasons he really didn’t want to do this.

Merlin put the purple envelope on the table and pushed it in front of Arthur. The king’s smile dropped when he realized what it was.

“It came in the mail today,” he said, shifting from foot to foot, looking at Arthur with an eager expression.

Arthur didn’t even bother to open the envelope. He opened the second drawer in his desk and shoved the invitation in it.

“She’s your sister!” Merlin knew he shouldn’t say anything but he couldn’t help it.

The whole world knew about the affair king Uther had had with his secretary right after his father’s death, when he was crowned.  It was a huge scandal at the time because a) He was the king of Wales, b) He was married to a very pregnant Igraine Pendragon (whom after discover her husband’s extracurricular activities tried to run away, crash the car and entered in labor prematurely, dying right after giving birth to Arthur) and c) Uther’s secretary, Vivian Le Fay, was from an old family of enchantresses, which made the already low reputation of the sorcery community fall to a minimum. And to top it all there was Morgana (Le Fay, since Uther never recognized her even though she was he’s mother’s image), the living proof of Uther’s actions, only six months younger then Arthur. 

Morgana and Arthur had strangely bonded. They went to the same university ( Uther had at least the decency to pay for her education) and they send each other Christmas gifts and birthday cards. But they barely saw one another after graduation. As the heir of the throne and then the King himself, it wasn’t good for Arthur’s image to be seen with her. In these days image was the only thing the monarchs still had, and it was important to keep it clean and shining.

“Don’t you think I know that?” he sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I can’t be seen with a witch!”

If only he knew the irony of that, Merlin thought.

\----

At the end of the day Merlin was wrecked. If someone had said to him a few years ago that working for the king was so exhausting he wouldn’t have believed.  

He let his body sink in the empty chair in front of Gwaine, he had invited Merlin for a drink after he saw Merlin’s face when he left Arthur’s office that morning.

”So, does His Highness have something on his schedule for next week? A rock concert maybe?” Gwaine asked with a knowing look and an evil smirk playing in his lips.

Merlin let his head fall hard on the table. Twice. He groaned.

“How the hell do you know about that?” He raised his head from the table.

“I have my sources.”  The waiter came to take their orders and Gwaine fucking blinked at the man.

“Oh God! You’re shagging his secretary again, aren’t you?” Really, the man couldn’t keep it in his pants.

“ _You’re_ his secretary,”  Gwaine said with another evil smirk. And seriously, why was Merlin his friend, again?

“Which only helps my point. We had sex twice. And one was only because I was very drunk.” Merlin was so tired he didn’t even care about the secretary comment.

“You make it sound like I took advantage on you.” Gwaine feigned a shock look.

The waiter was back with their beers; he put them down on the table and asked Merlin if he was going to need anything else. He didn’t even glance at Gwaine’s direction.

“I’m pretty sure you did,” he said, taking a sip of his beer.

“It offends me to know that you think so low of me.”

“I do,” Merlin answered, and then with a dismissive movement. “Anyway, he needs to go.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because I know it would mean the world to Morgana, this is the beginning of her first world tour. And also.” He stopped to look around. Once he was sure no one was paying attention to them he continued in a lower tone. “If someone knew Arthur was supporting his sister, it would mean good publicity to, you know, my kind.”

“Your kind? You mean gay people.”

“Wh-what?! No, I mean us, like me and Morgana. People-with-magic.” He said in a hurry. Merlin sighed. He rubbed his hands on his face. God! He felt so tired.

“Oh, I thought you mean gay. Cause I’m half gay.  You can ask Morgana.”

“The correct term is bisexual,” Merlin said without thinking, and then the meaning of the words crashed into him.

“You did Morgana!” He clapped his mouth with his hands after noticing he had just shouted that in the middle of the pub and some heads turned in his direction, some with  reproving looks and some with knowing smiles, a guy even gave Gwaine two thumbs up.

“I think it was more like the other way around. I mean, not literally. But, you know, she’s bossy.” He shrugged.

Merlin shook his head.

“I can’t believe this. Now what, you going to tell me you shagged Arthur as well?”

Gwaine suddenly went very quiet. Merlin looked at him.

“Gwaine,” he said in a warning tone. “Please tell me you didn’t shag Arthur.”

Gwaine cleared his throat.

“Well, technically speaking.”

With a flick of magic Merlin made the legs of Gwaine’s chair split open and the other man fell with it on the floor.

“Ouch! That was really not necessary,” he said from the floor.  People were opening staring at then now. It didn’t help that Gwaine was the son of a very public figure. Merlin could only hope they wouldn't make it to The Sun’s cover.

The waiter brought Gwaine another chair, he eyed Merlin suspiciously for a moment and Merlin thought  he was going to say something about the broken chair, but after he made sure Gwaine was okay the man left saying he was going to bring a beer  to Gwaine, on the house.

“Seriously though, you do know this crush of yours is completely mutual, right?” Gwaine asked after he got his free beer.

“Please, don’t joke about it.” It was already pathetic enough that he had a crush on his best friend, who happened to be his boss, who happened to be the King and, up until a few minutes ago, completely straight from Merlin’s point of view. It was not nice of Gwaine to put salt on the wounds and play with the hopes Merlin shouldn’t even have in the first place.

“I’m not joking, Merlin.” And for the first time in the night Merlin saw the seriousness in his friend’s eyes. That was why he was friends with Gwaine, the man could be an idiot sometimes but he had a good heart, and more important, he care about Merlin. “You know he likes you.”

“As a friend.” Merlin sighed.  “And if he knew who I am, I wouldn’t even have that.” It hurt to think that he could lose Arthur, the little Merlin had from him. He couldn’t risk it.

“Oh come on! Give the man some credit, will you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Merlin my friend, I mean that you should just tell him everything. Stop lying to yourself, stop lying to him. He’s not his father, give him a chance.”

Merlin finished his beer and headed home with Gwaine’s words still play in his mind. He couldn’t just blurt it all to Arthur like that. Could he?

\----

When Merlin got home from the pub he was so tired (and slightly drunk) that he dropped himself face first in the sofa and was dead to the world as soon as he closed his eyes.

And that was when it began. He was dreaming, he knew that because he had never met the person in front of him, even though he knew exactly who she was. He also knew he was dreaming because everything around him was black, he wasn’t even sure if he had anything under his feet. He was immerged in complete darkness and yet he could see Morgana perfectly well.

“Oh, thank goodness!” She smiled at him. “I was beginning to doubt if I’d be able to get a hold on you.”

She talked as if she had tried to call his phone the whole day and it went straight to voice mail. As if it was completely normal to get into someone else’s dream like that.

“You look surprise!” And he was. The thing about Merlin was that he spent so much of his time trying to hide who he was that he eventually forgot about it. It also helped the fact that because of his job he didn’t actually had much contact with any magic users. So yeah, this wasn’t a usual Friday night to him.

“Well, let’s just say that this isn’t a usual-”

“Friday night?” She completed, and then his jaw fell even more. “Oh come on, Merlin. I’m literally inside your head right now. You should really hang out with our people more often.” There was an evil-ish smirk in her lips and Merlin could see a little of Arthur in her.

“Yeah, it runs on the family.”

“C-could you stop it!” He unconsciously put his hands at the side of his head, as if it could prevent Morgana from reading his thoughts.

“I seriously hope you know that that is useless.” She shook her head in the same way Arthur did when he thought Merlin was being ridiculous. “Anyway, this is exhausting, so I’m going to be quick.” She went closer to him and Merlin unconsciously gave a step back. “Please, Merlin. You have no idea how much I miss my brother. I’m going to tell you something I never told anyone and I’m sure neither did Arthur. When we were growing up, back when my magic was still asleep, and we were allowed to go to the same school, I told Arthur about my dream. I told him I wanted to be a singer, to have a band and be famous. Everyone kind of knew that, but they thought, and they told me so, that it was a childish dream. They said I was going to grow up and find a ‘real job’. Even _my own mom_. But not Arthur, he always supported me. He used to ask me to sing to him.” As she talked, images of what she was saying started to appear, replacing the darkness they were in. “He always said he was going to be there when I perform to the world. You know Arthur, you know he keeps his promises. Help him keep this one Merlin.”

“You know he can’t-”

“I’m not naïve Merlin, I know he can’t be seen there. But I really need him to come.”

Merlin felt himself blushing and this time she full body laughed at him.

“Oh god!” She kept on laughing for a few more seconds and Merlin really wished he could just bloody wake up already. “That was _not_ the kind of ‘coming’ I meant, but please, by all means, if that’s what it takes for him to go.” She sobered up a little and wiped a tear from  the corner of her left eye. “Thank you Merlin.”

“For what?” He hadn’t done anything.

“But I know you will.”

And then Merlin was woken by and irritating light in his eyes. He was about to complain to Morgana that he had gotten the message,  and would she just let him sleep. But when he opened his eyes Merlin discovered two things: 1) the annoying light was actually the sun, because he always forgets to close the damn window, and 2) he was late, he was very late.

As he tried to find a clean shirt, while magically smoothing his pants and his tie, Merlin thought that at least now Arthur would have a decent excuse not to go to Morgana’s concert, for he would be too busy trying to get out of jail for killing Merlin.

\----

On the bright side Arthur didn’t try to kill Merlin instantly because when Merlin arrived he was in the middle of one of those _very important meetings_ , which _really_ , had to happen on a Saturday.

Merlin was just glad that looks couldn’t kill. Well, at least Arthur’s couldn’t.

When the meeting was over Merlin followed Arthur back to his office. Closing the door behind him, he only hopped people wouldn’t hear Arthur’s screaming at him. Arthur sat on the chair behind his desk and looked at Merlin.

“Is this the time when I apologize?” Arthur didn’t say anything; he just kept his gaze on Merlin’s face. “Or maybe beg for my life?”

“Believe me Merlin, if I thought killing you would solve my problems…”

“Good thing it doesn’t.” Merlin said, attempting a smile.

“For now.”  Arthur smile back at him.  And Merlin knew in that moment that everything was well again. Arthur always forgave him in the end he knew he could push the Morgana subject again.

“Did you open Morgana’s invitation yet?”

Arthur sighed.

“Merlin.” He rubbed the tip of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“She’s your sister.” Merlin pushed.

“ _Mer_ lin.” Arthur kept saying his name as a warning, but Merlin couldn’t back off now, not with the images Morgana had shown to him still playing in his mind as if they were his memories. Arthur and Morgana were but victims of a fucked up society and an even more fucked up father. Merlin was damned if he wasn’t going to help them.  He was always complaining to Gwaine about these unrequired feelings he had for Arthur, so what kind of man would he be if he didn’t try to help Arthur keep the promise he had made? What kind of person doesn’t help the ones they claim to love?

“You know it would mean the world to her. You know it’s important. You-”

“Enough!” Arthur slammed his hand on the desk and this time he did scream at Merlin. “Why do you care so much anyway?”

Merlin sighed.

“I could give you the long selfless answer where I tell you should think about your sister and your relationship with her, but you know what.” He pulled himself upright and took a deep breath. He was going to take Gwaine’s advice for once. “You know what? I’m going to be selfish just this once and say that is important to me, because… because… because I-have-magic-too-and-I-would-love-to-see-that-you-care-about-my-people-because-I’m-also-completely-in-love-with-you.” When he finished Merlin was out of breath like he had just ran a marathon. Arthur was just staring at him, gapping like a fish out of water.  “Arthur?”

“Just… leave, please.”

“Arthur?”  Why did he listen to Gwaine? Why didn’t he shut up after the part about the magic? Merlin was seriously considering if he could magic himself a new brain along with the new job he was clearly going to need.

“Go home, Merlin.” There was no emotion in Arthur’s voice and that scared the hell out of Merlin.

“You’re firing me?” He had to ask even if he really didn’t want to know the answer just then.

“Please, Merlin.”

Something in Arthur’s tone made Merlin oblige without another word. And Merlin was just glad he managed to leave the building before he started crying.

\----

Merlin spent the rest of his Saturday pacing in his living room. He thought about calling Gwaine but he wasn’t in the mood to drink and he knew that would be Gwaine’s solution, and also he was a little scared that Gwaine would  get the wrong message and go punch Arthur in the face, because he was a very protective friend sometimes. And Merlin could already imagine the feast the tabloids wouldn’t have if the Prime Minister’s son were arrested for punching the king. Merlin could live without that kind of mess in his life.

He thought about going to sleep and try to contact Morgana, but neither he knew how to do that nor he wanted that scary woman inside his mind again.  By midafternoon Merlin even thought about calling his mother, but then he remembered she was in a cruise with Uncle Gaius and his girlfriend Alice, somewhere in the Brazilian coast. So yeah, he had no one to talk to and he was about to open a hole in his living room when the bell rang. Merlin opened the door and began to wonder what kind of god he had pissed.

 “Arthur?”  The last (and only) time Arthur had been in Merlin’s flat Uther Pendragon had just died and Arthur went to cry on Merlin’s shoulder. “Come in,” he said and immediately turned his back to the king. “Do you want some tea, I’ll make you some.” He didn’t wait for an answer and went straight to the kitchen.  He wasn’t ready to hear whatever it was that Arthur had to say.

“Uh, yeah. Aren’t you going to close the do-“ There was a click of the door being closed before Arthur could finish the sentence. Merlin’s eyes were still fading back to blue when Arthur went to meet him in the kitchen. “So uh, since when do you have magic?”

“I was, uh, I was actually born with it.” Merlin answered without looking up to Arthur.

“Really, is that possible?”

Merlin shrugged. “It was for me.”

Merlin prepared the tea in an awkward silence. When he was done he put the liquid into two mugs and handed one to Arthur. He didn’t ask if Arthur wanted something else, he knew perfectly well how the king took his tea.  They went back to the living room. Merlin sat on the sofa, he was being childish, leaving Arthur to sit in the uncomfortable yellow armchair. But instead Arthur just fell in the sofa a few inches from Merlin.

 “You’re an idiot!” Was the first thing Arthur said to him after the long silence.

“Excuse me?!”  Merlin turned to him, _what the hell was Arthur playing_ and oh they were really close.

“No, shut up now. Now you just listen.” And even though he didn’t sound angry there was something about Arthur, some sense of power that Merlin couldn’t explain but that made him think that, if Arthur’s title still held the importance it had in the Middle Ages, he would have been a great ruler. “How could you lie to me like that? Why did you never tell me?”

Merlin waited for a moment to see if Arthur was going to say anything else but apparently he was waiting for an answer.

“What was I supposed to do Arthur?  You don’t talk to your own sister!”  Merlin finished his tea and lean to put his mug on the coffee table, trying to get some space from Arthur. He was feeling very hot. He blamed the tea.

“But you are-”

“I’m what?” At that he turned to Arthur once more, if he was going to start insulting Merlin, he was going to hear some things as well, king or not. Merlin never held his tongue with Arthur and he wasn’t going to start now.

He was probably fired any way.

“You’re Merlin” Arthur completed.

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re my best friend, okay!” Arthur said, putting his mug beside Merlin’s. “You’re not supposed to have any secrets.” And then he said in a very small voice “Not with me!” It was almost a whisper and Merlin wasn’t sure if he had heard it right.

“Arthur?”

“Don’t _Arthur_ me. You were wrong to keep your magic a secret.” Arthur turned to him and now there was almost no space between them. “And even more wrong to let me thinking I was the only one with platonic feelings here!” Merlin’s heart was beating so hard he was sure Arthur could hear it. He was afraid to breathe, afraid that if he as much as blinked he would break the spell. Or worse, he was going to wake up to find that this was only a dream and Arthur had fired him.  But eventually he breathed and blinked, and Arthur was still there. Still looking at him with those sky blue eyes.

“You-” Merlin didn’t exactly know what he was going to say but then Arthur saved him from having to say anything at all by closing the small distance and sealing Merlin’s mouth with his.

Merlin was so shocked that for a moment he just stood there without moving, but Arthur kept kissing him and when Merlin felt Arthur’s tongue liking his upper lip, seeking for an entrance he opened his mouth and started to reciprocate. He threw his arms around Arthur’s neck, burying his fingers in golden hair and suddenly Arthur was on top of him.

They kept kissing for god knows how long, Arthur’s mouth going from Merlin’s mouth to his neck, and _oh_ that was going to leave a mark. And Merlin’s hands travelling the whole expensive of Arthur’s back all the way to his arse, which Merlin grabbed, because how couldn’t he?  Eventually Arthur’s hand found its way through Merlin’s shirt and they had to break apart in order to remove it. Arthur took his jacket and T-shirt off as well, it was only then that Merlin noticed he was dressed casually, probably trying to avoid that someone on Merlin’s building recognized him, which made Merlin think about who had brought Arthur, he wouldn’t leave the Buckingham Palace without at least a bodyguard. Percy and Leon were probably parked in a car in front of his building, or maybe Arthur said he would call when he was done, and really, why was Merlin thinking about that when Arthur was shirtless and lying on the top of him, supporting a very noticeable bulge on his jeans.

Merlin’s priorities were all wrong; he was going to have to work on that. Later.

He was so lost thinking about things that could wait that he took some time to notice that Arthur was just looking down at him with a strange look on his face.

“I can’t make any promises,” Arthur said in a small voice when he saw that Merlin’s attention was back on him.

“I know.” He knew that Arthur was probably going to regret it, that he couldn’t date the bloody king, that they had a lot of explanation to give to one another, but they were both hard and already half naked, might as well get on with it. “But I think right now we both deserve this.” And with that he pushed Arthur down on him again.

There were more kissing and groping, and Merlin couldn’t help but feeling like a teenager again, snogging in the living room couch, hoping his parents wouldn’t get home until much later.  But soon Arthur brought him back to reality by rubbing their crouches together.

“Fuck!” Merlin panted.

“Is what I’m trying to do,”  Arthur said with a smirk. He was about to open Merlin’s jeans but Merlin stopped him.

“Oh, for fuck’s sakes, I do have a bed you know.” He pushed Arthur away from him and heaved himself from the sofa.

“Lead the way, then.”  Arthur said with a mocking gesture.

Merlin took Arthur’s hand on his only letting go when they reached the bedroom.  And then Arthur resumed to his task of undressing Merlin and Merlin went back to kissing every available inch of Arthur’s perfect skin, and his perfect muscles, and fuck, Merlin sounded like a high school girl, even in his thoughts.  Soon they were both naked and Arthur was, really there was no other word than perfect.  Later Merlin wouldn’t be able to explain exactly what happened but suddenly they were back to the original position, with Arthur on top of him. Only now there was a lot more skin to skin.

Arthur hands were everywhere, and so was his mouth, which quickly found its way to Merlin’s cock, in that moment Merlin was really glad Arthur had been raised to be the best at everything, and that _everything_ included given head as well. The man knew what he was doing and Merlin was going to come embarrassingly quickly if he didn’t stop right now. He released his grip on Arthur's hair to tell him as such but they seem to be in sync, that or Arthur understood the message because he let go of Merlin and climbed back up to Merlin’s mouth.  He could taste himself in Arthur, and fuck if it didn’t turn him on even more if that was possible.

“Can I fuck you?”  Arthur hair was tussled, his lips were red swollen, he looked like someone from a porn book (book, not video, because doesn’t matter how much he tried Merlin could never find those men attractive, there was always some flaw here or there and later he would realize the flaw was not being Arthur).

_Priorities, Merlin, priorities._

“Please do.”  His eyes went gold and his top drawer opened itself, its contents (a condom and a bottle of lube) went flying all the way until they landed by his side in the bed. If Arthur found that weird he didn’t say anything, he coated his fingers with lube quickly working Merlin open, one of his fingers reached Merlin’s prostate and he saw stars.

“Ready, more than ready.”

“Impatient, aren’t we.” Didn’t Arthur know that _now_ was _not_ the time to tease?

“I’d just like to remind you that _I’m_ the powerful one here. It’s not the time to tease me.”

“Really?” Arthur nipped and then licked the shell of Merlin’s ear before whispering. “Best not to keep you waiting then.” 

And with that he put the condom and settled himself inside Merlin, all the way in (he hadn’t been kidding when he said he was ready). Merlin embraced Arthur’s waist with his legs, after a moment of stillness Arthur started to thrust, slowly at first but then he increased his tempo and Merlin was trying to follow his rhythm, arching his back in search for some kind of friction. Again Arthur understood what he wanted and putting his hand between then he grabbed Merlin in hand.

It was all too much and too little at the same time and Merlin didn’t last long. Arthur followed him a few thrusts later. He fell on the bed beside Merlin, the both wince when Arthur pulled out. Merlin cleaned then both using magic.

“I love that thing your eyes do, it’s breathtaking.”

“Thanks,” Merlin said, blushing, he wasn’t used to be complimented like that so he went for a change of topic. “I didn’t even know you were gay until recently, you know.”

“When did you know?”

“Gwaine”

Arthur groaned. “Please, let’s not go there.”

“Believe me, I have no intension to.”

“What? You too?”

“That man can be really persuasive when he wants.”

“Oh let’s be honest, he’s fucking hot. The bastard.”

“And willing.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of difficult to say no to that combination.” They looked at each other and both started to laugh at the same time. They laughed for a good few minutes and when it died down Arthur sighed.

“I wish I could stay,” he said softly, rubbing his thumb in Merlin’s cheek. Merlin kissed his palm.

“Me too.”

Arthur got out of bed and started to put his clothes back on, Merlin just watched, he waited until Arthur had finished and only then put on a T-shirt and boxers. They walked out of the room and to the front door in a companionable silence. Merlin’s hand was already on the knob, but Arthur put his hand on Merlin’s before he could open the door.

“Wait. I know I said I couldn’t promise anything, but… I’ll work on it. Slowly. Baby steps. And the first one is Morgana’s concert.”

Merlin couldn’t hold back the huge smile that threatened to split his face. He also couldn’t hold the urge to hug Arthur, but luckily he didn’t have to fight that back either and so he involved the king in his arms as tidily as he could.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”  For every “thank you” Merlin placed a kiss on Arthur’s face.

 

\----

The next time they saw each other (Monday morning, he wasn’t fired, but he was late again), Merlin told Arthur everything, including his weird dream with Morgana and the coming innuendo, which lead to Merlin find himself on his knees in the private bathroom in Arthur’s office. Afterwards he told Arthur his idea to get them to Morgana’s concert without been seen. It involved magic, and Merlin was please to discover that Arthur was actually really open to it, he found everything Merlin did amazing and he was also beginning to develop a kinky for Merlin’s golden eyes.

\----

He felt Morgana’s eyes on them the minute they entered the VIP area of the place. The show was about to start, her and her band where already on stage. For all she was scary she was also stunning, and even more so wearing black leather.  She introduced herself and the band, Morgause, Nimueh and Gwen.  For what Merlin could tell, Gwen was the only one who didn’t seem to have magic. The place was crowded, soon Merlin realized why, in their The Runaways like style, The High Priestesses were really good and Merlin told Arthur so.

“I know, right.” His eyes were shining with pride for his sister, which made Merlin think it was all worth it, even if he and Arthur hadn’t ended up together, he would do it all over again if it meant he got to see that look on Arthurs face.

\----

“So, I was thinking,” Merlin begun. The show was in its interlude.

“Should I be worried?” Arthur asked whit a smirk.

"Oh, shut up you prat!” He threw one popcorn at Arthur (and really? Popcorn? In an underground all girls band’s concert. Morgana was the craziest persons Merlin’s had ever met), but the clotpole manage to get it, with his mouth. “But seriously though, what about your heir?” He had promised himself he was only going to ask after the concert, but he couldn’t help himself.  Arthur replaced the playful smile on his face for an affectionate one. He took Merlin’s hand on his before answering.

“Well, surrogacy’s there for a reason, right?” He said, kissing the back of Merlin’s hand. Which brought Merlin’s mind to another concern. They were out in public, even though everything was black and purple and nobody could see anything he still cared for Arthur’s image. The king noticed Merlin’s nervous glances to his sides. He offered Merlin an apologetic smile. “Baby steps, uh. It won’t be always like this, I promise you.” And then he kissed Merlin’s knuckles just for good measure.

Merlin chuckled.

“Well, lucky we’re both really good at being subtle.”

“You? Subtle?” Arthur snorted.

“You didn’t know I was a sorcerer, neither that I love you.” His ears turned pink at that. He didn’t mean to say like that but apparently his brain to mouth filter had already gone home without him.

Arthur was blushing as well.

“Good thing you’re not completely useless, then.  No way I would let the whole world know if my boyfriend was an idiot.”

“But since your boyfriend’s not an idiot…”

“Well, since he’s not _completely_ idiot.” Arthur leaned in to whisper in Merlin’s ear. “Then I guess I’ll just have to stick to him forever.”

Merlin didn’t have the time to answer because Morgana’s band was back on stage.

“Our last song is dedicated to someone very important to me.” She looked up for the people on the VIP area but not for anything in particular, bless her. “I’m really glad you’re slowing taking your head out of your arse.” Morgana waited until the audience’s laughter died down and continued. “I know you’re in love now. And when I say that I know, I mean that, I can _see_ it.” She wriggled her fingers to the audience in an I'm-doing-magic kind of way and everybody laughed again. “I can also see that things will change now, but you two will always be the same. Two sides of the same coin.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, this one’s for you.”  Morgana looked one last time to the VIP area and then back to the audience in front of her. “Our last song of the night is called _I tried to be subtle_.”

Merlin didn’t even have to look at Arthur to know that the smile on the king’s face was a match to his own.

_Baby, don’t be afraid;_  
 _I know I said I’d be subtle;_  
 _But that’s  just not my way._


End file.
